All's fair in love and war
by free-elf18
Summary: Sylvia has always put the needs of her best friend first, but as term progresses a family secret turns her life upside down and she finds herself contending with her inner demons alone. Can the cheerful, happy-go-lucky pup of the pack who is beginning to irritate her with his persistence break down her walls? Seth/OC
1. Hot date with cheetos

Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize. My original characters and story lines are my own creations.

_AN: Hello! I'm using this account to practice and hopefully improve my writing. Kinda having a massive bout of Writer's Block so I'm taking a break from writing my original stuff. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this first chapter. This story progressively becomes darker, so this is just a warning that not all chapters will be so lighthearted as this one. _

**Chapter One - A hot date with a bowl of Cheetos**

Being best friends with Cat had always been more of a serious occupation rather than something easy. Whilst I was known for having the emotional range of a tea spoon, she could practically have a regular slot on the front page of a gossip magazine with all of her stories. Her life was full of drama whereas I tended to keep my head down and avoid any precarious situations which could leave me in a sticky spot. But that was how our friendship worked; I coached her through her daily mishaps. That was how it had always been. I had been in the passenger seat of the rollercoaster that is her life since we were in diapers. I swear, if I disappeared into thin air then she'd probably spontaneously combust.

So, it was no surprise to find her on my doorstep on this particular Saturday evening with her arms folded tightly across her chest.

"Oh, hey Cat," I mumbled between bites of cheetos, dressed in one of my brother's old sweatshirts and a pair of baggy jogging bottoms. I had just gotten out of the shower about thirty minutes before so my unruly, curly hair was literally all over the place. On nights in I tended to let it have a mind of its own.

Cat pushed her way into my house, slinking across to the lounge to drop herself down onto my couch with her signature sigh of dismay. She was dressed glamorously, as usual. Her long, sleek brown hair was tied up in a top knot, and she donned a tight black dress, tights and a brown leather jacket.

I raised my eyebrow and grumbled, "Make yourself at home." before closing the door and making my way back into the lounge, taking a moment to mentally say my farewells to my evening of slasher flicks and junk food as I sat down in the chair opposite Cat. She was glaring down at her immaculately painted fingernails, huffing and puffing occasionally. I, on the other hand, popped a couple more cheetos into my mouth - my appointments with Cat usually required a lot of energy. "Wassup?"

She glanced up at me, her brown eyes gleaming with a look of desired revenge.

Oh no.

I could handle mopey, dramatic Cat, but when she came to my house with that mischievous look in her eyes it usually resulted in stress.

"That stupid, ginormous hot piece of ass dumped me." She grinded out in an artificially controlled voice, referring to her casual guy friend Paul. I refer to him as guy friend as opposed to boyfriend because their 'relationship' was purely based upon booty calls and sex.

"And?"

No, that may not have been very supportive but I honestly didn't see the big deal. Paul and Cat were notorious for having arguments and then falling into bed with each other the next day. This had happened too many times to count.

Cat glared dangerously. "He dumped me for _Rachel Black._" She suddenly pounced off of my couch and started pacing around the room, hands gesturing wildly in the air as she mumbled a load of words and phrases involving torture methods and Rachel Black.

Reaching for another large handful of cheetos, my eyes darted nervously around the room, following Cat's angry stomps.

"- I'm going to castrate his nasty, _small_ penis, condense it down in a blender and force feed that slut some dick soup -"

My eyes widened as I very almost choked on my precious mouthful of cheetos.

On a scale of one to ten of bad this was an eleven. Maybe even a twelve.

"- that spineless oaf! How dare he end things with me to start a relationship with her. _It's serious_ he said, _I love Rachel_ he said -"

"Paul's in love with her?" I couldn't help but interject with that question. After all, Paul Lahote was the womanizer of La Push. Imagining him falling in love was almost as difficult and comical as imagining Voldemort with a nose.

Cat scoffed as she whipped her head into my direction. "He _thinks_ he's in love because she's brainwashed him or something. Musta bought some voodoo shit back from her time away." Finally, my eyes could rest back in their rightful place in the safety of their sockets because Cat perched on the edge of my coffee table with a thoughtful expression upon her face. This look was more lethal than her look of desired revenge because it usually indicated that she was cooking up some kind of plan. And Cat's plans almost always involved me.

"You have homeroom with Seth Clearwater, right?" She'd raised her voice to a sickly sweet tone.

It was my turn to glare now - I knew exactly what her next few questions would be. That's just exactly how close we were. "Ugh, there's no way I'm playing the messenger Cat. Leave me out of it." Arms folded tightly across my chest, I resolved to attempt to remain strong. Yes, Seth Clearwater happened to be in my homeroom, but that didn't mean that I ever really even spoke with him. In fact, the only conversation we happened to have was before his dad died when he asked me if he could borrow a pencil. I replied with an 'I'm sorry, I don't have one' and that was that. Not exactly a blossoming friendship, or even an acquaintance, by any means.

Cat sighed, her lips pouting out slightly as she leaned forward to grip my hands in her own. They were practically talons, digging desperately into my skin. In an attempt to avoid giving in, I glanced around the room but her piercing stare almost pulled my attention back to her face. "Please Sylvie. This is important to me, and we're best friends so you kinda have a duty." I went to open my mouth in protest but she swiftly continued her speech, "All you have to do is initiate a conversation and ask about Paul and Rachel. I need to know how easy or difficult it will be for me to split them up." She said this last line so casually that my mouth dropped open in shock. This was a new low, even for Cat.

"Dude, you can't just break up a relationship."

Well, she had done a couple of times before. But this was Paul Lahote and Rachel Black - they were two tough eggs and she was only going to get herself, and me, into trouble.

"Stop calling me dude! Gosh, Sylvie sometimes you act like such a guy." My mouth turned downwards into an annoyed frown. Her grip tightened around my hands, but her expression softened. "We've been best friends since we were in diapers, please!"

I sighed to myself, biting my bottom lip and damning my loyalty to her. "Fine." Her eyes lit up and a grin spread across her face, but I continued before she could get carried away. "_But_ if Seth Clearwater reports back that they're madly in love then you've got to promise me that you'll let it go." I suppose all I did have to do was speak to Clearwater, even though the dude kind of irritated me at times.

"But-"

"No buts, Cat. Promise me or I won't talk to Clearwater."

A few moments of silence passed and I could practically see the cogs turning inside her mind. I rarely ever laid down ground rules or conditions when it came to helping her out, so she knew she'd have to compromise.

"I promise."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear that."

Cat stuck her tongue out at me and finally dropped my hands. "I promise that I'll let it go."

Reaching for another cheeto, I shrugged helplessly, "I guess that means I'll talk to Seth then."

Cat squealed as she launched herself at me with such force that my cheeto fell to the floor. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I knew there was a reason why you are my best friend!"

She was hugging me with such ferocity that it was almost as if I had promised her my first born child, and I swallowed back the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that this would be far from over regardless of what Seth said as I hugged her lightly back.

"Now, can we please curl up on the sofa and watch Scream? I have a hot date with a bowl of cheetos."

* * *

**Please drop me a review and let me know if you think I should continue. Constructive criticism is also massively encouraged! **


	2. Men don't blush

_AN: Sorry it took a while to write this chapter. I've been moving my stuff away from home for University, so I've been super busy. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Thank you Jacobslover2014 for following and reviewing the previous chapter - glad that you enjoyed it and I hope that this one is just as enjoyable for you! _

**Chapter two - Men don't blush**

Family has always been a term used loosely in our household. In normal households, family tends to stick together in a close unit. There's a sense of love, support and fierce protectiveness. Our family, on the other hand, is slightly different.

My brother and I have always been very close and I've never felt more happy than when he and dad were back under the same roof as Mum and I. Dad worked away a lot so he was hardly around, but we had always had a super tight relationship. Whenever he was home he'd taking me on weekend hiking trips and I received a weekly postcard from him, indicating which place in the world he was in at the time. When he was back at home it was almost as if we were a functional family and I even tried to pretend that the act my mother put on in front of him was real, that she was the perfect mother all the time.

My relationship with my mother, although seemingly abnormal to the passing bystander, had always been simple: she pretended I didn't exist most of the time, only passing the occasional distant remark in my direction when she had to put on a show of being a functional mother in front of my father, and in turn I didn't bother her unless spoken to. She never needed to be verbal with the disgusted looks she gave me. My brother has always tried to play the peacekeeper between mum and I, but now that he is away for college there seems to be less peace and more of a tense atmosphere. It was clear that I was simply unwanted by her, had been for as long as I could remember.

So it was a big surprise to see that she was sat at the kitchen table as I descended the stairs to eat my breakfast before school, a cup of coffee in front of her. Her blond hair was tightly wound in a ponytail, and she donned her usual smart black dress suit for work.

"Sylvia." She acknowledged tightly, her eyes piercing into my own as she beckoned me forward with a perfectly manicured hand. "Sit."

I did as I was told, wringing my hands together.

"You're not at work?"

Mum rolled her eyes and shot her signature look of disappointment at me. "No, I left for work half an hour ago and you're sat in this kitchen by yourself," She drawled out sarcastically. "Your father is coming home in the next couple of days. He's been advised to return by his superior officer."

I stopped wringing my hands and felt my lips turn up into a wide grin.

"I don't know what you're so happy about. You're not to overcrowd him when he gets home - it's about time you grew up and stopped being so attached to him. You're a leech when he's around. It's pathetic."

"But I haven't seen him in three months!" I blurted out, but immediately regretted doing so when mum's face contorted into a dark frown. She got up from her chair and slowly walked over to me, her heels clicking sharply against the floor, before she placed a firm hand on to my shoulder.

"If I catch you being too overbearing then you'll be grounded until the end of time. Do you understand me?"

I nodded my head, but couldn't help but notice that her angry expression was shaded with concern. She was worried about my father. "Why is dad coming home so early anyway?"

Mum briskly removed her hand from my shoulder and turned to walk towards the sink. "Just get ready for school and get out of here."

* * *

The walk to school was uneventful. Cat spent the whole time reminding me exactly what to say and what not to say to Seth, an unassuming pawn in her latest scheme. The only difference between Seth and I was that I was an assuming Pawn. I knew that I was being used by Cat, but I had more on my mind. My father was sent home early by his boss. He'd be home in the next couple of days, which meant we'd be able to spend some rare time together.

But I couldn't help but fret over the numerous possibilities for him having to return home early. Dad was quite an important part of his team in the military - he was a specialist in post traumatic stress disorder, and one of the best of his kind in the country. Officials often personally requested his assistance, which was why he had to travel around so often opposed to being stationed in one area. They needed him. So why were they sending him home?

I zoned back into my conversation with Cat, pushing my dad to the back of my mind. I'd question him when he got home. Cat seemed to be listing things with her fingers so it appeared that she had really thought through the procedures of her plan.

"- And remember not to make it seem as if I've asked you to speak to him.. he'll tell Paul and it'll be all embarrassing because I'll come across as desperate and needy, which are two things I definitely am not."

"Right, no mention of you. Gotcha."

Speaking to Seth was the last thing that I wanted to do now that I had the news of my dad's return on my plate. Seth Clearwater intimidated me; not because he was volatile and violent, but because he was exactly the opposite. The kid seemed to always have a content smile on his face, come rain, come shine. It just didn't seem human to be that happy twenty four seven. But assisting Cat with her problems had been a constant in my life for as long as I could remember, so it was just something that I'd have to get over and done with.

At least she hadn't asked me to speak to Paul.

* * *

Seth Clearwater's large frame was the first thing I noticed as I walked into homeroom. He looked almost humorously out of place in a classroom filled with smaller looking teenagers. It also didn't help that he had to bend over his desk in order to write comfortably. Despite his large frame, there was something distinctively young looking about him. It was probably the way that his face was almost constantly lit up like a child's face on the morning of Christmas.

Most of the chairs surrounding him were already taken because I was later than usual seeing as Cat felt the need to go through the plan another three times when we arrived on school grounds, but I spotted that the seat behind him was vacant so I marched over towards it and claimed it as my own.

I was hoping that he might have caught my eye as I walked past him, making it easier to start a conversation, but he seemed to be focused on whatever was on the paper that he was bent over. I noticed that his use of the pencil was delicate, as if he was afraid to ruin whatever it was he was working on.

I smiled smugly to myself as I placed my pencil case on to my own desk. Starting a conversation would be pretty easy considering the fact that I was pretty intrigued by what he was doing.

"Excuse me," I called out, but his focus remained unwavered. This admittedly made me quite frustrated because my promise to Cat was pushed to the side as my curiosity got the better of me. "Uh, excuse me, Seth?" I only had ten minutes to talk to him before Mrs Danae arrived to take the register.

The scratching of his pencil stopped and he straightened up to turn towards me. "Oh, sorry, I get carried away sometimes. My mum always jokes that I'm off with the faeries and-" It was almost as if his joyous speech got stuck at the back of his throat because he gulped for air as our eyes met. The depth of them pulled me in and I honestly felt mesmerized by them. Classmates, desks, chairs and the blackboard all seemed to disappear until I heard the scrape of a chair a couple of desks beside me, and we both seemed to be jolted out of this trance.

I mentally slapped myself as it all seemed to wear off, but Seth was still looking at me as if I was a freaking Holy Messiah or something. It was unnerving so I waved one of my hands slowly in front of his face. "Uh, Seth?"

My voice snapped him out of what appeared to be a trance like state as the biggest grin I had ever seen him don spread across his face. It was truly blinding.

"What can I do for you, Sylvia?" He chirped out, his body now completely facing me. My name rolled off of his tongue delicately, which I wasn't very happy about. He was talking to me as if we'd been best friends for years. The thing that frustrated me the most was that I liked the way he said my name, I wanted him to say it again.

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

Seth barked out an amused laugh. "Exactly the same way that you know _my_ name. We do live in La Push ya know. Everybody knows everybody." Well, he'd certainly got me there. "So, what can I do for you, Sylvia?"

And suddenly that warm feeling in the pit of my stomach was back again. _All_ because he said my freaking name. I cleared my suddenly dry throat and continued, shoving these new found reactions to Seth right under a rug in my mind. "I was just sorta wondering what you're concentrating so hard on."

He looked a little bit confused for a second, but then realization seemed to hit him and a light blush spread across his cheeks. "It's, uh, nothing,"

"Riiiiight." I smirked. "Then why are you blushing as if somebody has just walked in on you butt naked?"

Seth pouted indignantly. "I was totally not blushing just then," He proceeded to puff out his shoulders. "Men don't blush."

"And girls don't fart." I muttered under my breath sarcastically. Seth seemed to pick up on what I was saying, though, because he let out another one of his grand and mighty laughs.

"Oh, I figured out that statement has always been a lie before middle school." He glanced playfully around the classroom before leaning in closer, his hands around his mouth. "My sister Leah farts like a man!" He stage whispered. I would have let out a little chuckle at that, but my breath caught at the back of my throat when his warm breath washed across my face.

"If you keep your mouth open like that then you'll catch flies," I jolted back to reality to see that Seth was wearing a smug smile, which indicated to me that he was clearly pleased with himself for making me act like one of his stupid fan girls.

My eyes narrowed slightly and I gave him a light shove. "Funny, I could have said that to you a moment ago."

Seth blushed, _again_. "I don't know what on this fine green earth you're talking about." A comfortable silence fell over us, and I fought off the urge to squirm under Seth's gaze as his eyes swept over me. "You're great. I don't know why we've never really spoken before."

Fighting off a blush, I decided to veer the conversation towards the true reason why I had chosen to strike up a conversation with him. "I know! It's crazy to think that two of our friends had a thing going on and we've never crossed paths." When his face scrunched up in confusion, I leaned forward. "Your friend Paul and my friend Cat?"

His face lit up in recognition, but he simply shrugged, "I didn't really know too much about that."

"But you heard about their break up, right?"

"Oh, that? That wasn't a break up, Sylvia, they weren't even together really. Besides, Paul is eternally whipped by Rachel."

Uh oh. That certainly was not the news I wanted to be reporting back to Cat.

"'Eternally whipped'? How can he be when they've just met?"

Couples that got super intense super quickly had always irritated and confused me. True love is not something that just springs up out of nowhere; it takes time for that sort of emotion to grow. Not that I had any experience with relationships, but I could just never see myself falling in love that quickly. Seemed a bit too unrealistic.

Seth expression turned serious. "You don't believe in love at first sight?"

"You _do_?"

Well, of course he did. The majority of his friends were all in intense relationships that seemed to develop out of nowhere.

He nodded rapidly. "Of course it can happen! Have you not read Romeo and Juliet? There's was a fated love-"

"-Which was also completely fictional." I pointed out, cutting him off.

Another silence swept over us as he stared at me in disbelief. But his face took on another expression that I had never really seen on his happy go lucky self before, one of determination. But before he could rant on about fated star-crossed lovers, Mrs Danae walked into the classroom with a heap of paperwork in her hands and a wide smile on her face that almost trumped Seth's usual happy expression - I swear the only thing that has ever been fated is that she was assigned to be his tutor.

He gave me one last fleeting look before turning back to the front of the class. "This debate is not over, Sylvia." He said playfully, leaving me to stare at the back of his head.

My left eye twitched in frustration as I realized what he had said. A conversation that had initially only been started to find out information for my best friend had led to a debate that was, in his words, 'not over'. Why did I have the feeling that this was not only not the end of our debate, but also not the end of coming into contact with Seth all together?

One thing was certain: Cat owed me several packets of Cheetos.

* * *

**Hope you guys drop a quick review to let me know if you're liking/hating this story! **

**Thanks.**


	3. Enter tweedle dum and tweedle dee

_AN: For the purpose of this story, Seth, Brady and Collin are all the same age. __Thanks to Jacobslover2014 and Spacecake23 for the feedback. Knowing that people are actually reading my story definitely motivates me to write more! Here's the next chapter for you. _

**Chapter three - Enter tweedle dum and tweedle dee**

"'This debate isn't over yet, Sylvia'" Cat scoffed between bites of an apple, her eyebrow raised. She smirked a little bit as she nodded towards the steroid table. "He's totally creeping on you."

I whipped my head around to see Seth looking at me. When he noticed me staring he looked like a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but smiled brightly none the less before turning his attention back to his friends. "This is all your fault dude!" I whispered when I turned back to Cat, who seemed very smug with herself despite the fact that I'd told her about Seth's confirmation regarding Paul being whipped. The look on her face when I'd told her was one of pure fury and jealously but she soon dropped it to interrogate me about Seth. However, I was suspicious that it wasn't all over just yet. Cat was never quick to drop things.

For instance, she seemed to think my little conversation with Seth was a big deal. And she wasn't letting it go.

Cat shrugged casually. "He's pretty hot. Not Paul hot, but still hot. I'd jump him any day of the week."

My eye instinctively twitched, and I felt a surge of jealousy flash through me but quickly forced it away. "Seth's not your type." I quickly said causing Cat to smirk wickedly.

"Is that because he's _your_ type?" She cackled to herself as I pouted indignantly, but then suddenly stopped laughing and smiled brightly behind me. "Oh, hey Seth,"

I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my sandwich. "Very funny, bitch."

"Oh, are we telling jokes? Cause I have a really great one," A deep voice joked from behind me causing me to almost choke on a piece of sandwich. My splutter soon turned into a full blown cough and I could feel my face heating up both from the effort to cough and the surprise that Seth was, in fact, standing behind me.

I felt warmth all around me all of the sudden, and realized that Seth had pulled me into his arms at lightning speed and was patting my back softly. Of course, this only made me cough more as I tried to indignantly pull away from him. "What-" cough "Are you-" cough cough "doing?!"

"Sylvia, are you okay? I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." He continued patting my back while Cat sat there with a curious look on her face.

Finally, after what seemed like a long time, a piece of my sandwich shot out of my mouth and landed upon the table - slow motion style. Cat seemed to find this hilarious because she threw her head back and burst out with laughter. Meanwhile, I jumped out of Seth's arms and sat back down in my seat, completely mortified. "Uh, hey Seth," I managed to squeak out, my eyes wide.

Seth placed a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes, his expression one of relief. "Are you Okay? I-"

"I'm fine." I answered bluntly, ignoring the stares from other tables as I subtly shrugged my shoulder away from his warm hand. Seth adopted a brief expression of hurt. "Why did you come over here?" I asked a little bit softer.

He ran a hand through his short, dark hair and offered me a nervous grin. "I just wanted to know if you want me to walk you to your next class? I mean, Brady and Collin mentioned you're all in Math together, and I'm only in the class next door so I thought we may as well walk together." He ran his hand through his hair again when he was met with a confused silence from both Cat and I. "I mean, only if you want to. I'm sure you already have your own walking routine-"

"Dude, I'll walk with you." I butted in, trying to save Seth from losing his voice with all the talking he was doing. I was met with a toothy smile and brightened eyes as I collected my things and turned to Cat, who looked positively amused. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Nope, I'm calling you tonight." She smirked, her eyes dangerously bright.

I was about to start walking with Seth, but he held out his hands expectantly. I just stared at him in confusion until he nodded towards my books. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't carry your books?"

"Uh, I'm okay." I jostled my books around in my hands. "Been carrying my books since the start of middle school, I'm sure one more day can't hurt."

Seth proceeded to stun me with what could only be described as an adorable pout. Seriously, even the iciest of hearts would have melted. He seemed to have planned this distraction because he sneakily grabbed my books and started walking away, whistling in an attempt to be inconspicuous.

"Seth Clearwater, unhand those books," I yelled as I chased him out of the food hall, Cat's shrill laughter ringing in my ears.

* * *

"You sure you're okay?" Seth asked once again, my books firmly against his chest.

I rolled my eyes. "Seth, it was only a piece of food. Happens to everyone."

"Yeah but I wouldn't like to see you get hurt." I felt a blush coming on, the feeling only intensifying due to the occasional girl glaring towards me for some reason, but Seth changed the subject. "What's your favourite colour?"

"My favourite colour?" I scoffed with a smirk. "Really? I didn't peg you as the predictable type, Clearwater."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow as he playfully nudged into me. "Well, what kind of type did you peg me as?"

I nudged him back, smirk still attached to my face. "Give me a chance to get to know you man."

"So you do want to get to know me?" He grinned widely, eyes sparkling happily.

I shrugged, fighting back a smile. "We'll see."

* * *

Math was _supposed_ to be uneventful. Since speaking to Seth this morning I had been looking forward to focusing on algebraic equations.

Of course, the powers to be decided to make today even more eventful for me. Its weapons of choice to make me go completely insane were Brady Fuller and Collin Littlesea, who had decided it would be a superb idea to sit either side of me. With giant ass amused smirks.

I forced myself to pay attention while our Math teacher explained a formula, hoping that they'd soon lose interest, but then Collin began to chuck rolled up pieces of paper at me to amuse Brady. So, as soon as Mr Daniels instructed us to chat through the formula with our neighbours, I picked up a piece of the rolled up paper and pointedly glared at the two of them.

"Okay, tweedledum and tweedledee, what's the big idea?"

"Tweedledum and Tweedledee!" Brady pouted, looking extremely affronted. "Aren't they the fat characters from Ally in Wonderland?"

"_Alice_." I interjected.

"Potato, potatah sweetheart." Collin stated with a roll of the eye. "Point is, I'm far from fat." He began to flex his muscles as he winked at me playfully. "All muscle baby."

If I had a sick bag, I would have thrown up copious amounts of my lunch. Instead, I resorted to doing the adult thing in this situation - turning my attention back to the Math equation at hand.

Another piece of paper came flying at me, hitting the side of my head. I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I swear to God, you'll both die a slow and painful death if one more of those _goddamned_ things come flying at me."

"Miss Bell!" My head shot up to see Mr Daniels glaring at me from the front of the classroom. From both sides of me, Brady and Collin snickered under their breaths. "Language!"

"Sorry Sir." I muttered with gritted teeth, a light blush peppering my face. As soon as he turned to walk towards a group at the front, I gave the chuckle brothers the deadliest glare I could possibly muster, smirking to myself when they seemed to pale before happily turning back to my work.

"Seth's gonna have his hands full with that one."

My head snapped up and I turned to Collin, who was whistling innocently. "What was that?" My voice came out in a low and annoyed growl.

Collin paled again. "Nothing."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"We're only joking around with you sweetheart." Brady grinned in amusement, his eyebrow raised, before clearing his throat professionally. "Now, you're probably wondering why we've decided to sit beside you on this fair day."

"Go on..."

Colin interjected at this point, after sharing a nod with Brady. "We need a Math tutor."

I shot him a confused look. "But why me?" There were loads of kids in our class who were good at Math, and although I had spoken to Collin and Brady once or twice before they didn't exactly know me.

Collin and Brady exchanged a brief look before Brady turned back to me with a shrug. "Just because." Before I could open my mouth again, he continued. "It'd only be once or twice a week after school. If we don't pass this year then we'll get a bollocking from our parents."

They both pouted pleadingly. "Please?"

I sighed a little as I thought it over. I didn't exactly want them to fail Math class, and teaching the class material would help me develop my math skills further. _But_ was I willing to risk my sanity by spending more time with the chuckle brothers?

"Okay," I shrugged, deciding that I would indeed risk my sanity. "But only if you stop throwing paper at me." Brady went to open his mouth but I held up my hand to silence him. "_Or_ any other kind of inanimate object."

They glanced at each other before smiling brightly. "Deal."

"Good. Now let me get back to the equation."

* * *

Looking back on the day, although feeling slightly out of my comfort zone with the new found attention from members of the steroid gang, I had to admit to myself that I enjoyed speaking with new people. So much so that I actually found myself to be humming a catchy tune under my breath as I walked back into my house. Not even a potential run in with my mother would hinder my mood too badly.

But when I found my father sitting in his arm chair in the lounge, a day earlier than he was supposed to be back, my body immediately felt cold and the hum withered at the back of my throat. In any normal circumstance, I would have launched myself into his arms with happiness, but the man sat in the arm chair looked like an empty shell of what my father normally was. My father had dark bags under his eyes, which were sunken in his face. His face was gaunt - as was the rest of his body - and attached to him was an IV. His normally full head of brownish-grey hair had thinned so that I could see his scalp. He was smoking a cigar, inhaling the fumes into his body.

I stood glued at the doorway of the lounge, shock overriding the masses of concern I felt for my father. As he exhaled, he raised his eyes towards the doorway and smiled softly at me. "It's nice to see you darling."

My mouth dry, I couldn't seem to get any words out.

Dad seemed to sense my fear and concern because he motioned towards the sofa and sighed sadly. "I think we need to have a catch up."

* * *

_Dun dun duuuuun. This is where the story gets slightly dramatic folks. Hope you enjoyed my portrayal of Brady and Collin! I'd love to read what you guys think! _


End file.
